Circuit for phase sensitive servo amplifiers



April 27, 1954 c, MCADIE 2,677,086

CIRCUIT FOR PHASE SENSITIVE SERVO AMPLIFIERS Filed Dec. 29, 1951 Fig.2.

WITNESSES:

v lNVENTOR 9 5 Colin H. McAdie M @(r/Z ATTOR N EY Patented Apr. 27, 1954 CIRCUIT FOR PHASE SENSITIVE SERVO AMPLIFIERS Colin H. McAdie,

Westinghouse Electric Baltimore, Md., assignor to Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 29, 1951, Serial No. 264,195

6 Claims. 1

My invention relates to arrangements for reversing at will the phase of alternating current which is caused to flow between output terminals of an alternating-current network by a voltage impressed on the supply terminals of that network. This arrangement is particularly useful where the aforesaid output terminals are connected to one phase-winding of a two-phase servo-amplifier motor, the other phase winding of which draws alternating current from the circuit connected to the said supply terminals. In such an arrangement the direction of rotation of the servo-amplifier is reversed when the phase of current at the output terminals is reversed.

Circuits, of which Fig. 1 herein is typical, have been devised in which a servo-motor controlling some mechanism can be caused to rotate at will either clockwise or counterclockwise by reversing the phase of the alternating voltage impressed on a set of control grids, by means of a reversing switch or the like. In such arrangements, the grid-controlled tubes have needed direct-current voltage supplies for their plates and in many cases power-requirements are high enough so that the direct-current voltages needed are inconveniently high. Furthermore, in many instances, a considerable number of servo-amplifiers are needed in a system and difilculties arise from common coupling and interference through use of a single direct-current voltage supply for the tubes of the various servo-amplifiers.

My invention comprises a novel circuit in which alternating voltage is used for plate-voltage of the servo-amplifier tubes, thus making it possible to use a separate transformer-secondary if desired, for each servo-amplifier plate-supply and making it possible also to avoid the above-mentioned tendency to cross-interference between different amplifiers as well as to cheaply provide plate-voltages of any desired magnitude.

One object of my invention is accordingly to provide a new and improved servo-amplifier control circuit which shall avoid the necessity for providing a supply of direct current for the platecircuits of the amplifiers.

Another object is to provide a servo-amplifier control system in which numerous amplifier units may be embodied without serious difiiculty from cross-interference between the amplifiers.

Still another object is to provide a novel amplifier network embodying a pair of push-pull connected grid-controlled discharge tubes in which an alternating voltage impressed on input terminals coupled to the control grids will cause a fullwave alternating current of the same frequency to flow in an output circuit, the phase of said alternating current changing through 180 electrical degrees when the phase of said alternating voltage is changed through 180 electrical degrees.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide an amplifying tube network having two alternating voltages of the same frequency impressed respectively on two input terminals, and in which a change of 180 electrical degrees in the phase of said alternating voltages relative to each other will change by 180 electrical degrees the phase of the voltage across a pair of output terminals relative to one of them.

Other objects of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following description taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a circuit diagram of a servo-ampliiier control-circuit of the prior art, and

Fig. 2 is a similar diagram of a servo-amplifier control circuit embodying the principles of my invention.

Referring in detail to Fig. 1, a servo-motor which may be a two-phase induction motor I is provided with windings 2 and 3 displaced from each other by one-half of the space between successive poles on the stator. Winding 2 is fed from an alternating voltage source through a capacitor or equivalent element 4 while winding 3 is fed from the secondary 5 of a transformer having a primary 6 which is connected between the anodes of a pair of push-pull connected gridcontrolled electrical discharge tubes 1, 8. The common cathodes of the tubes 1, 8 are connected to ground through a resistor 9, while a directcurrent voltage source (not shown) is connected with its negative terminal to ground and its positive terminal to the mid-tap of primary 6. The control grids of tubes 1 and 8 are respectively connected to the opposite ends of a transformer secondary I! having a primary l2 connected through a reversing switch I3 to the same alterhating-current source it that supplies the motor-- winding 2. A mid-tap of the secondary l l is connected to ground.

The mode of operation of the Fig. 1 circuit is substantially as follows. When switch 13 is closed in one of its two positions the alternating voltage from source it will make the controlgrids of tubes and 8 alternately positive, and so cause pulses of current to flow from the directcurrent source first through one-half and then through the other half of winding 6 to drive through secondary 5 and winding 8 an alternat-v ing current having the same frequency as supply 1%. Supply it will also send a current through capacitor 4 and motor-winding 2 which will be substantially 90 electrical degrees out of phase with that in motor-winding 3; and the eifect of the currents in motor-windings 2 and 3 will be to set up a rotating magnetic field in the air-gap of motor I which will rotate its armature in the same direction that the field moves. The motor I will thus rotate any mechanism, such as a tuning capacitor rotor, to which it may be attached.

If now it is desired to rotate the motor I in the opposite direction, the switch I3 is opened and reclosed in the reverse direction, thus changing through 180 electrical degrees the phase of the alternating voltage it impresses on the controlgrids of tubes 1 and 8. As a result the phase of the alternating voltage impressed on motorwinding 3 will be changed by 180 electrical degrees relative to the voltage impressed by source I4 on winding 2. The direction of rotation of the magnetic field in the air gap of motor I will be reversed, and also the rotor of that motor will turn in the opposite direction to the direction in which it moved before switch S3 was reversed.

A previously pointed out, the electrical characteristics 01' commercial tubes such as 7 and 8 make it necessary, in many applications of servomotors, that the direct-current source supplying plate-current shall be of inconveniently high value; and where a number of servo-motors are used together, their connection to a single source of direct-current, which would otherwise be desirable, causes some cross-interference of one motor with another. For these reasons, the circuit shown in Fig. 2, using the source of alternating voltage which supplies the motor winding 2,

has been found to be an improvement of the Fig. 1 circuit.

In Fig. 2, the motor I, its windings 2, 3, capacitor 4, transformer windings 5, 6, tubes I, 8, resistor 9, transformer windings II, and source I4 are the same as in Fig. l and so it is believed unnecessary to repeat that description here. However, the direct-current source of Fig. 1 is. replaced in Fig. 2 by the variable-tap secondary winding 2| of an auto-transformer which is fed from the alternating-current supply I4. Also the respective ends of transformerwinding 6 are connected in series with capacitors 22, 23 and thence to ground by a pair of half-wave rectifiers 24, 25 which may be of either the diode or dry-contact type, each rectifier being poled so that it is non-conductive when the anode of its adjacent tube, I or 8, is positive.

The mode of operation of the Fig. 2 circuit is substantially as follows. The anodes of tubes I and 8 are both positive on one half-cycle of source I4, and both negative on the following half-cycle. On the first-mentioned half-cycle the closure of switch I3 makes the control-grid of one tube, let us say tube 1, positive and the control-grid of the other tube 8 negative. Tube I alone will thus conduct current on that halfcycle from source 2I through the upper half of transformer-winding 5. This will induce a voltage in transformer-winding and motor wind 4 ing 3; and the latter, together with motor-winding 2 will set up a rotating magnetic field in the air-gap of motor I to turn its rotor. On the next half-cycle while the control-grid of tube 8 is positive, the voltage impressed on the anodes of both tubes 7 and 8 by source 2| is negative so that they remain non-conductive. However, the voltage of source'Zi is so poled that rectifier 24 is conductive to it and carries current through winding 6 during the second half wave of voltage impressed by I2, switch I3 source H in the opposite direction to that pass ing that winding during the proceding half-circle. The winding 6 thus carries both half-waves of alternating current and sends full-wave current to motor winding 3.

If now it is desired to reverse the rotation of motor I, switch I3 is closed in the reverse position so that it renders tube 8 conductive, and tube 1 non-conductive, during those half-cycles when source I3 makes their anodes positive. It is believed clear without detailed description that the system will behave as described above except the rotor of motor I.

It will be noted that the transformer windings 5, 6, II, I2, tubes I, B, capacitors 22, 23 and rectifiers 24, 25 may be considered to constitute a network having output terminals (winding 5) and two sets or" input terminals (winding I2, and mid-tap-to-grcund on winding 6) and that changing phase by electrical degrees of voltlit should be noted that the speed of the motor I can effectively be varied by varying the magnitude of the voltage applied to the grids of tubes I and 8 in accordance with the teachings of my invention.

It should be further noted, respecting Fig. 2, that controlling the conduction of either tube I or tube 8, in effect automatically controls the current flow in the opposite direction through the respective diode 24 or 25. This is due to the operation of capacitors 22 and 23, which inherently do not pass direct currents.

I claim as my invention:

1. A network comprising a first and a second electron discharge device, each having a cathode, a control electrode and an anode, said cathodes being connected together, a coil having one end of said second alternating potential relative to.

said first alternating potential, and a work circuit coupled to said coil.

2. An apparatus substantially as described in claim 1, characterized in that said rectifier con- 3 nections include a resistance in series with each of said rectifiers.

3. An apparatus substantially as described in claim 1, characterized in that said work circuit comprises one phase-winding of a two-phase motor, the other phase-winding of which draws current from said first alternating potential.

4. A network comprising two pairs of backto-back rectifiers, one rectifier of each pair having a control electrode, means for impressing alternating voltage across the anode-to-cathode path in each said pair, means to impress alternating voltages between the control-electrode and cathode of each said pair so the grid-controlled rectifier of said sets are rendered conductive in alternate half-cycles, a load-winding having its respective ends connected to like terminals of said grid-controlled rectifiers and a midtap connected to the other terminals thereof, and means to reverse the phase of voltages impressed on said control-electrodes, all of said alternating voltages being of the same frequency.

5. A servo-amplifier in which the load circuit specified in claim 4 one phase-winding of a two-phase motor having its other phase-winding supplied with alternating voltage of said frequency. 1

6. The apparatus specified in claim 4 in which said load-winding is opaque to direct current.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,473,494 Wannamaker June 14, 1949 2,508,639 Field May 23, 1950 2,514,918 Wannamaker July 11, 1950 2,529,490 Field Nov. 14, 1950 2,538,494 Barton Jan. 16, 1951 

